There has been continuing effort over the years to provide paper web material dispensers, for example toilet tissue dispensers, for dispensing paper web material to a user. To reduce the frequency of service visits needed to replenish toilet tissue dispensers, many tissue dispensers are designed to maximize the amount of tissue held therein. An example of such a dispenser is a large roll tissue dispenser utilizing a single, large roll of tissue material, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,169. Another example is the type of tissue dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,648,267 and 6,491,251 where a plurality of rolls of tissue are supported on a rotatable device within a housing to dispense tissue from one roll, while the remaining rolls are held in a reserve position waiting to be moved into a dispensing position once the roll currently at the dispensing position is completely or substantially depleted.
In the large roll tissue dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,169, a turning knob is provided that allows a user to rotate the spindle upon which the tissue roll is disposed, thereby rotating the tissue roll. The provision of a turning knob so a user can rotate the roll is necessary when the tail end of the tissue is not hanging through the dispensing opening of the housing, but is instead disposed within the housing where it is difficult or impossible for the user to access. The knob allows the user to rotate the roll to bring the tail end of the tissue back to the dispensing opening. The tissue dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,648,267 and 6,491,251 includes a user actuation disk through which a user is able to rotate the spider upon which a plurality of tissue rolls are disposed in order to bring a new roll into a dispensing position once the roll currently at the dispensing position is completely or substantially depleted.
It is possible that the dispenser can be damaged if excessive torque is applied to the turning knob or actuation disk of such dispensers. For example, if a paper jam or mechanical mechanism jam occurs in the dispenser, and the user attempts to overcome the jam by forcefully rotating the turning knob or actuation disk, damage to the dispenser can occur if the applied force is large enough. Further, in the dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,648,267 and 6,491,251, if the roll currently at the dispensing position is not sufficiently depleted, and the user attempts to force a new roll to the dispensing position, damage to the dispenser can occur.
There is a need for an improved paper web material dispenser, for example a roll tissue dispenser, that has a user actuation mechanism, where the dispenser is designed to prevent excessive force that is applied to the user actuation mechanism from damaging the dispenser.